Bywater's most notable role was in EastEnders in 2012 as Lucy Beale, taking over from Melissa Suffield who played the role from 2004 to 2010.[4][5] On 21 February 2014, it was announced that Lucy would be murdered, starting a dark chapter for the Beale family and a whodunnit storyline ("Who Killed Lucy Beale?") that would run until the show's 30th anniversary in February 2015 when the identity of the murderer was revealed.[6] Bywater made her final appearance as a series regular on 18 April 2014 with a re-appearance for a flashback episode on 19 February 2015.